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I have not been able to establish when the monument was set in the concrete block, or when it was positioned against the southern exterior wall of the Visitor Information Centre (see Photograph 10.1).
I first noticed the monument not long after I moved to Merimbula in 2004 and was struck by its forlorn appearance, chained to the building as if to prevent it from escaping.
The plaque told me that it had been donated to the community twenty-five years earlier, in 1979, but my quest for information from existing published sources on why the people named on the plaque made such a gesture, and what happened at the first Oyster Festival and any subsequent ones, was in vain.
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10.1 Monument positioned against southern exterior wall of the Visitor Information Centre, its location until July 2013.[216]
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Merv had been overlooked when it came to writing the history of the town. Even though it was the country’s first oyster monument, had established itself as a local identity and was once capable of arousing interest in itself and what it represented, the monument did not make it into related publications and was not included in the National Register of Unusual Monuments project.
Its role, and the role of the Oyster Festivals it commemorates, in attracting tourists to Merimbula was not being recognised. Festivals attract tourists who might not otherwise visit, provide economic benefits through increase in tourist numbers and promote the community as an appealing destination not only in which to holiday and to visit, but also in which to work and live.
Merv was in danger of being forgotten and lost to history. The monument’s purpose of ensuring the remembrance of particular events was not being fulfilled.
The Merimbula Oyster Festival Monument commemorates not only an important local industry, oyster farming, and the Oyster Festivals held in recognition of that industry, but also commemorates an important era in the local history of Merimbula.
The town was experiencing a period of growth in both its tourist industry and its population when the festivals were staged in the years 1979 to 1981. It is apparent that the festivals played a significant role in enhancing the image of Merimbula as a tourist destination, and they may well have contributed to its appeal as a town in which to live.
Unfortunately, the monument’s function of enabling us to always recall and remember the past, and events associated with it, is hampered by the absence of a record of those events. It is hoped that this account of the tortuous history of Merv the World’s Largest Oyster, and the Oyster Festivals the monument commemorates, will arrest the diminishing contribution that the monument would otherwise have made.
10.2 Merv in his present location, December 2018.[217]
10.3 Merv in his present location outside the Merimbula Visitor Information Centre, December 2018.[218]
